Rebag Introduces Clair, An Instant Evaluation Tool For The Luxury Resale Industry

Have you ever wondered how much you can buy your dream bag—that Dior tote that everyone is carrying—for on the secondary market? What’s a fair price? What’s a deal? Or, are you trying to slim down your closet and trade in that Louis Vuitton Speedy, but not sure about the right amount to sell it at? 

Rebag, the luxury handbag buying and selling retail destination, unveiled a new groundbreaking tool that allows users to check the value of luxury handbags, whether it’s that Gucci that’s already in your closet, or that Chanel that you’ve had your eye on for years. The appraisal system is called Clair, named for the acronym for Comprehensive Luxury Appraisal Index for Resale. “Essentially, it's an instant evaluation tool for the luxury resale industry,” said Charles Gorra, the founder and CEO of Rebag. “We think it has a much broader impact in terms of the whole luxury ecosystem.”
Traditionally, the luxury handbag market is shrouded in secrecy. Brands keep the numbers in their heavily controlled stock to themselves. To come up with a fair price at which to buy a pre-owned handbag could take up to an hour of phone calls and price checking, but now, thanks to Clair, that can be done simply by visiting the Clair app or website. Gorra and his team spent five years recording data that spans across 50 brands and 10,000 styles of handbags. When asked how the data was collected, Gorra was vague in his response, simply saying, “Pretty much anything you can think of is somehow in there.”

What used to take an hour to calculate now takes seconds simply by entering the information required to appraise the handbag’s value. “Basically, it's a taxonomy,” said Gorra, who explained that there are five segments within that taxonomy that are taken into account: type, designer, model, style, and size.
Those who end up selling their luxury handbags to Rebag will be instantly quoted a price in cash or credit—which is 15 percent more than the cash value—because of Clair. Users can simply print out the label and ship the handbag to Rebag, or if they are located in Los Angeles, New York, Miami, or San Francisco, they can drop it off at a brick-and-mortar location.

“We can find a price, and everyone will know that and you will have good surprises, and you may have bad surprises—but you will know.” said Gorra. “And also, you will know now, which is very important.”
But Clair isn’t just for those looking to buy or sell on Rebag. Gorra knows very well that people may not necessarily use the tool for that. He also knows that people may scour the market for handbags sold below the Rebag buying price to sell to Rebag. Clair provides a free instant evaluation to anyone who wants to use it. “Clair is meant to be essentially an open source framework for the industry,” he said. “It's not for just for Rebag, it's for everyone.” Gorra wants Clair to be for the secondary luxury handbag market what the Kelley Blue Book is for used cars.
For those who want a return on investment, Clair will provide up-to-date data on the resale market. Gorra said that Hermès is the unicorn, while Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Goyard are the safe bets as he points to a diagram that shows that data. Then, Gorra explained that a simple handbag accessory, like the Louis Vuitton bandouliere (strap) could make a massive difference in the resale value. Those who have it will get 70 percent of the retail price, while those who don’t only get 40 percent of the retail price.
Although StockX provides a service that shows how much items are offered or sold for, Gorra explained the difference between Clair and StockX. “StockX is a peer to peer marketplace, right?” asked Gorra. “So it's what they're servicing at StockX is not a StockX view, it is not a StockX price. It is the reflection of an individual currently putting a bid or an ask on StockX that StockX does not control.”
Clair will certainly have an impact on the luxury handbag secondary market. The next year will show just how much, as well as how brands and consumers will react to it now that they have the knowledge to sell and buy luxury handbags wisely.

oa here

Luxury makeover: Kering to go 'carbon neutral' by offsetting 2018 emissions

Credit: Sardaka

On Tuesday, Kering announced that the luxury group, which includes brands such as Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent and Balenciaga, will become carbon neutral across its operations and supply chain by offsetting its greenhouse gas emissions from 2018. The announcement follows Gucci’s own carbon neutrality pledge earlier this month and comes a day after Swedish activist Greta Thunberg’s emotional speech at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York.

"We are going a step ahead in the implementation of our sustainability strategy," says Marie-Claire Daveu, Kering’s chief sustainability officer. Kering’s sustainability initiatives to date have included work to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as a push for the use of reusable energy, says Daveu. “Where we won't be able to have zero impact it's important to offset.”

Fashion companies are increasingly pledging to offset their carbon footprint as it shows a commitment to sustainability, but the benefits of these initiatives are not guaranteed. “There is nothing logical or innovative around carbon offsetting unless it comes with a very serious commitment to prevent and reduce the company's carbon footprint,” says Orsola de Castro, founder and creative director of Fashion Revolution.

Kering, which also led the formation of the Fashion Pact to combat climate change at the 45th G7 Summit in August, has pledged to reduce all of its operations and supply chain greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent by 2025. The ambitious goal sets the industry in the right direction, but de Castro points out that without an external policing body, there is no guarantee of accountability.

Gucci Spring/Summer 2020.

Since 2011, Kering has measured the group’s greenhouse gas emissions through environmental profit and loss accounting (EP&L) to implement changes in its supply chain and promote efficiency initiatives across the board. These efforts have focused on offsetting two of the three types of emissions as defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, by operating on direct emissions from owned or controlled sources and emissions from the generation of purchased energy.

With its latest pledge, the group will offset all remaining emissions in the protocol, meaning upstream and downstream emissions in the value chain. For 2018, these remaining emissions will account for approximately 2.4 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. The group’s offsetting practices rely on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) projects, which include a partnership with the Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network (WFEN) to promote the conservation of biodiversity in farming practices, and collaborating with the Savory Institute’s Frontier Founder initiative to encourage regenerative grazing practices. The company’s 2018 offset will equal around 2 million hectares of forests around the world.

Kering’s announcement pushes it ahead of other luxury conglomerates in its commitment to full carbon neutrality, but other groups have their own initiatives in place. Richemont has been purchasing carbon offsets since 2008, while LVMH introduced a carbon fund across its brands in 2015 to calculate and offset greenhouse gas emissions generated by its businesses. “Such an approach reaffirms how Kering is one of the companies leading the way in sustainability, and I hope other brands and retailers will follow,” writes Eva Kruse, CEO and president of the Global Fashion Agenda, via email.

But an overreliance on offsetting can be seen as sidestepping a larger issue.

“With this level of urgency [we need] a commitment policy on reduction, not just of carbon and fumes, but also of production,” says de Castro. “We need to disinvest from growth to invest in social and environmental supply chain prosperity and compliance.”
oa here

Gucci’s First Live-streamed Show on Weibo Draws 16 Million Viewers

Gucci in November will open a new concept store in Beijing and launch its makeup line in China.

Giovanni Giannoni/WWD

 

GUCCI’S CHINA VIEWS: Some 16 million viewers connected on Weibo to see Gucci’s spring 2020 show, marking the first time the Italian brand had live-streamed its show on the Chinese platform. According to Weibo, views until now, including playback, totaled 22 million and 179,000 viewers posted a live comment. Likes totaled 421,000.

Held in Milan on Sept. 22, the show for the first time was certified carbon neutral, organized according to the ISO 20121 international standard that defines the sustainability of an event by measuring its environmental, social and economic aspects.

Gucci has a number of projects lined up in China. Following the opening on Sept. 16 of a store at the sprawling Plaza 66 shopping mall in Shanghai, the company will open a new special concept store at Shin Kong Place in Beijing on Nov. 6. That month, Gucci will also launch its new makeup line in China. As reported, Gucci sold more than 1 million lipsticks in the first month since the Alessandro Michele-designed line dropped in May. The lipstick line was launched exclusively on gucci.com on May 4, followed by a roll out in New York and in selective doors worldwide, backed by a major digital push.

Gucci has been upping the ante on its social media platforms. According to Tribe Dynamics, the data firm best known for tracking earned media value, in August, Gucci ranked first out of the top 10 fashion brands, recording more than $26.7 million in earned media value. This was a 2 percent increase over the previous month. Chanel was listed as second in the ranking, reporting more than $23.5 million in earned media value, a 7 percent decrease. Dior ranked third, totaling $21.8 million, down 7 percent, followed by Louis Vuitton, totaling $18 million euros, a 17 percent decrease. Saint Laurent, on the other hand, was up 4 percent, totaling $11.3 million.
Gucci also scaled another list. With its 36.9 million followers on Instagram, it is the number-one fashion brand on that platform, overtaking Chanel, which has a following of 36.8 million. oa here 

 

Fashion leaders to meet at G7 summit to improve sustainability, from H&M to Gucci

Fashion brands including Gucci and H&M will meet at the G7 summit this weekend in a global pact to fight the climate change crisis and improve sustainability.
The summit will see 32 fashion leaders, including Francois-Henri Pinault, the chief executive of Kering, and the owner of Zara’s parent company, Inditex, meet in Biarritz, France.
The coalition, otherwise known as “The Fashion Pact”, also includes brands such as Adidas, Burberry, Chanel, H&M, Ralph Lauren and Stella McCartney.

Representatives said its objectives draw on the Science-Based Targets (SBT1) initiative, which focuses on action in three essential areas for safeguarding the planet – stopping global warming, restoring biodiversity and protecting the oceans.
“The idea of engaging at the G7 level is also around getting the commitment at the governmental level to address these types of concerns with a sense of urgency,” Michael Beutler, director of sustainability operations at Kering, told Vogue Business last month.

The meeting comes months after French President Emmanuel Macron called on Pinault to bring together a group of brands to set unified sustainability goals for the sector.
“We have to work collectively,” Pinault told the Copenhagen Fashion Summit in May. “It’s about a few leaders who are willing to put themselves in an uncomfortable situation to force themselves to move.”
In recent months, Pinault has worked to bring together a coalition of industry leaders wanting to come together and set goals to reduce the industry’s negative impact on the environment.
“The mandate is really to move the sector,” Marie-Claire Daveu, Kering’s chief sustainability officer, added. “The G7 is a starting point.”

Kering has been a key leader when it comes to addressing the industry’s sustainability issues.
In May, the global luxury fashion company – which manages brands including Saint Laurent, Gucci and Balenciaga – published new animal welfare standards that included a list of requirements for the treatment of cattle, calves, sheep and goats throughout their entire lives, as well as guidelines for abattoirs.

In addition, it pledged to stop hiring models under the age of 18 on its catwalk and in advertising campaigns.

“We are conscious of the influence exerted on younger generations in particular by the images produced by our houses,” Pinault said at the Copenhagen summit. “We believe that we have a responsibility to put forward the best possible practices in the luxury sector and hope to create a movement that will encourage others to follow.”
The policy will come into effect early next year, in time for the autumn/winter collections.
Last month, Inditex announced a pledge to use purely sustainable fabric in its clothing by 2025 as part of a wider strategy focusing on sustainability.

The company aims for all cotton, linen and polyester used by the group to be organic, sustainable or recycled by 2025.
“Sustainability is a neverending task in which everyone here at Inditex is involved and in which we are successfully engaging all of our suppliers,” said chief executive Pablo Isla.
Moreover, the company stated that 80 per cent of the energy used in running the company (stores, logistics centres and offices) should be renewable by 2022.

As for recycling, the fashion conglomerate will supply all stores with containers to collect clothes and a pick-up service – already active in China and Spain – at home to be expanded to Paris, London and New York later this year.
The news came amid the formation of a new All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) to analyse sustainability in the clothing and textiles industry in the UK.
With the new APPG, which is supported by sustainability charity Hubbub, MPs from all political backgrounds will come together to review supply chains, materials used, and consumer behaviours.


oa here

In China, Even Luxury Goods Authentication Services Are Being Faked

August 29, 2018 TFL

image: derodeloper

A central part of the premise of luxury consignment platform The RealReal is its dedication to ensuring that the Chanel bags, Alaïa frocks, and Manolo mules you are buying are real. The San Francisco-based site touts itself as “the leader in authenticated luxury consignment.” Rival Vestiaire Collective similarly boasts about its grade-A offerings, which are “expertly checked for 100% quality and authenticity.” Even eBay has made inroads in this realm, introducing a network of brand experts to its service in order to verify the authenticity of goods being offered for sale in its marketplace.

Given the rise in demand for authentic second-hand luxury goods, paired with the ever-increasing sophistication of counterfeits (so much so that some fakes are 99 percent identical to the real thing), it should come as little surprise that services dedicated to weeding out the fakes are on the rise. The trend has made its way to China, which is – on one hand – the source of more than half of the world’s counterfeits, as well as full-blown fake Yeezy and Supreme stores.

On the other hand, China is also home to an ever-growing population of big-spending millennials who are not interested in anything but authentic luxury goods and are willing to pay handsomely for


With such a mixed hand at play, Chinese startups are popping up in an attempt to fill an important void: Telling the difference between the real and the fake. As noted by Jing Daily last year, one startup, Zhiduoshao launched an iPhone app in March 2017 to help users authenticate luxury goods. On Zhiduoshao – which means “how much it’s worth” in Chinese – users can upload photos of their luxury goods to the app, and an expert will give his/her feedback as to the authenticity of the product.  

The app’s founder and CEO, Xu Shichen, said that his company is seeing “a rise in authentication demands,” particularly as parts of the Chinese population begin to a exhibit growing acceptance of the second-hand luxury goods market, which is currently popular in first-tier cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, but is spreading to Tianjin, Chongqing, Chengdu, Wuhan, Xiamen (the big second-tier cities) and beyond.

The rise of the second-hand luxury market has been slow to catch on in China in part because of authentication concerns. As a spokesman for the China Resale Goods Trade Association said in 2016, even well-meaning shops have unknowingly stocked huge selections of counterfeits “due to their inability to authenticate the products.” Yishepai, an online luxury goods authentication platform, revealed that in 2016, only 40 percent of the goods they examined were real.

Maybe unsurprisingly, given China’s position as one of the more problematic global players when it comes to the protection of non-native intellectual property, no small number of the authentication services that are meant to be separating the bona fide luxury goods from the counterfeits are fake, themselves. In many cases, the seemingly authentic sites are copying the names, website layouts, and the imagery of more established authentication services, such as Zhiduoshao.

The scheme runs even deeper, according to China’s state-run China Youth Daily website, with companies offering up sham courses for individuals who would like to be trained as expert authenticators, something of a growing profession in China. The publication revealed this spring that a number of companies have begun offering classes “that promise to teach people to become an expert” in just a matter of days.

Such classes, according to China Youth Daily, are often fraudulent in nature, with Zhang Chen, a luxury bag authenticity expert at the Beijing Price Certification Center, emphasizing, “The process of identifying authentic luxury goods is particularly complicated because it requires a wide range of knowledge and experience.” Chances are, that knowledge takes more than a few days to acquire. 

OLINK

Farfetch delivers $43,000 fur coats via an app and it's about to IPO. Here's its story.

This story originally appeared at Thinknum Media here. To see all the data referenced, click here for access.

E-commerce isn't all deals, bargains, and free shipping. In the case of Farfetch, it's $43,000 fur coats and $32,000 watches delivered to your door, and by most accounts, there is enough of a market for such high-end items that it's not just doing well: it's about to go public.
Founded by José Manuel Ferreira Neves in June 2007, Farfetch's ($FARFETCH) mission is to be "the global technology platform for luxury fashion, connecting creators, curators and consumers," according to its IPO application. The online luxury fashion retail platform made $385.9 million in 2017 — a year where it reportedly had almost a million active customers — while posting after-tax losses of $112.2 million.
We track inventory, social, and Glassdoor data for the startup, which, when combined paint a useful, external data portrait of the company as it seeks public investment. Here's some of that data broken down.

What does Farfetch sell?

Right now, Farfetch sells over 100,000 products, ranging from "budget-friendly" fashion brands such as Kate Spade ($NYSE:KATE), Nike ($NYSE:NKE), and Levi's jeans, to fine watches, fur coats and other budget-breaking items that go for tens of thousands of dollars.
Out of all those products up for sale on August 29, 2018, the average price was $592.65.
Breaking it down by category, an average women's handbag on the platform will run you over $1,100, while the average pair of women's shoes costs $529.
In terms of what exactly is being sold on the website, our database tracks every single product and its various styles, which gives an idea of what brands are giving the most inventory variety. That title goes to Prada ($HK:1913), a company known for its designer handbags, followed by rival fashion house Yves Saint Laurent.

Most-expensive items sold by Farfetch

With plenty of designer brands on offer, you might wonder what the most farfetched (pun intended) and expensive fashion statement is on the website. On August 26, seven out of ten of the most expensive items on the platform were listed for $30,000 or more.

Most of these bank-busting fashion pieces are from luxury Swiss watch manufacturer Ulysse Nardin, which is part of the French luxury group Kering S.A. ($EPA:KER) that also owns Alexander McQueen, Gucci and Balenciaga.
But the most expensive single item, a fur coat from New York City-based designer Thom Browne, is definitely a stand-out among the ultra-expensive flashy timepieces.

App ratings

Farfetch is available both as an app and website, allowing fashionistas to order from their iPhone or Android phone (or laptop, of course). On both devices, the Farfetch app does well, touting a 4.3 star rating on the Google Play Store and a full 5 stars on the Apple App Store.

As well as filing for its IPO this past week, Farfetch recently purchased an app called Fashion Concierge that was founded by Daniela Cecilio, the second wife of Farfetch's CEO. No word yet on what this would mean for its mobile application, but it will be interesting to see how it will be integrated with what's currently working for them.

Social media presence

Along with its sales success, Farfetch has a strong presence on social media. On Twitter, its following is relatively steady above 80,000 accounts, while its Facebook page is inching closer towards the 2 million like count as the end of 2018 approaches.

Outside of its page, users are talking about the brand all around Facebook. Since we started tracking its Facebook presence in April 2017, Farfetch's most-impressionable time of year was during the holiday season, right around when the New York Times profiled the "luxury e-tail" industry as part of its year-end issue (and when people scramble for gifts):

Employee workplace ratings

In terms of the company's internal health, Farfetch employees are applauding its CEO, giving José Neves an impressive 92 percent approval rating on Glassdoor.

As Farfetch is preparing to go public, its current and outgoing workforce is beginning to grow uncertain, or even worried, of the company's future. Since the new year, its business outlook rating, based on how employees think the company will fair in the next six months, dropped nearly 20 percent.

Hiring practices

Although its future is uncertain, Farfetch has plenty of opportunities for those interested in joining it rather than investing. Overall hiring is up since the beginning of the year, but slightly down as it makes its bid to become a publicly traded company.

Most of these listings are for jobs based at its headquarters in the United Kingdom, or at several of its offices in Portugal.

Heading toward IPO

Farfetch filed to go public on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker FTCH. The company is aiming for a $5 billion valuation and, given the size of the global market for personal luxury goods — $307 billion in 2017 according to Bain — Neves and company just may hit those marks.
"We are a technology company at our core and have created a purpose-built platform for the luxury fashion industry. Our platform consists of three main components: applications, services and data," the company noted in the filing.
-James Mattone, Thinknum Media
*To see the data referenced in this story, click here to request access.

How small U.S. firms fight off floods of Chinese knockoffs

In this case, they are real. But many brands like sunglasses company 100% find themselves in an uphill battle against cheap knockoff products that come from China. (100%/Yahoo Finance)

Two months after the new model of sunglasses came out in May, knockoffs started popping up.

“It was amazing,” says Ludo Boinnard, CEO of 100%, a California-based eyewear company whose popularity has ballooned in the past year. “Two months!”

It was the second time this had happened. Just over two years before, the motocross-rooted company turned to cycling eyewear, and the fakes sprung up in early 2017.

For a small, up-and-coming company looking to gain market share — 100% has fewer than 30 employees in San Diego — there’s an aspect of flattery at seeing facsimiles, both branded with the company logo and unbranded, show up in the marketplace. But it’s also the source of stress.

“They just started to show up. It’s been just exponential; we used to see a lot of Oakley knockoffs but we never paid much attention because we were not in that world. Sometimes you’d see the Facebook and [Instagram] ads with the fake Oakleys,” said Boinnard. “Now, because we’re in the eyewear business, we’re more aware of what’s going on and it’s insane.”

Incidents like these have been going on for a long time, as domestic intellectual property (IP) is co-opted and duplicated with lesser materials abroad, either to be sold as cheap counterfeits, fraudulently, or as something of a generic.

The ongoing trade conflicts and back-and-forth tariffs with China have largely been about the President’s interest in closing the trade deficit, but intellectual property has also been at the forefront of U.S. complaints: China has been guilty of ripping off American tech in the past. (The U.S. has long said that theft of intellectual property, including copyrights, trademarks, patents, has cost American companies billions of dollars.) 

In the discussions of IP by China, the focus has often been on the theft of technology and electronics, often via foreign ownership restrictions that require U.S. companies to show their cards to China or a Chinese corporate partner if they want to operate there. But while a simple copy-paste for consumer goods like sunglasses may not pose the same security risks or enormous financial damage of a complex tech algorithm, it does significant damage to a company.

The potential harm to the company has a few layers. The simplest is that they take away business, as some people will buy the cheaper knock-off on eBay or China’s Ali Express for $25 instead of $150 from an authorized retailer. Many companies and brands suffer from this issue, from Ray-Ban to Gucci to Apple earpods.

Sometimes people know it’s a fake, but mistakenly believe they are getting the same product from the same factory simply with a different logo, or maybe the factory stayed open an extra day off-contract. (This is not the case for 100%, which sources from France and Italy only.)

But the fakes are sometimes sold at full price to unsuspecting consumers, which for sports sunglasses that require shatter-resistance, can cause serious injury. Other times, “people think they’re getting a deal,” said Boinnard. Unfortunately, the lower prices for knock-offs usually means that there isn’t a budget for R&D or safety testing.

“One of the first occurrences is one guy who called and said, ‘I’m very unhappy about your product, I was injured by it,’” said Boinnard. He sent photos of the cracked product and cuts of his forehead, and the company told the guy to send the product. It turned out to be fake. “He bought it full pop on a Chinese website,” said Boinnard.

In other instances, he said, people import fakes and sell them at events — at full price.

“They have the experience of touching and feeling it and saying ‘oh this product is crap,’ which hurts us at a different level,” he said.

A game of ‘Whac-a-mole’

For the most part, 100% contracts out the job of enforcing design patents and IP to Red Points, a firm based in Barcelona that has the technology to crawl the web for design infringement. The company told Yahoo Finance’s sister site TechCrunch that catches around 200,000 fake products for sale every month. Tools like reverse-image search help, as many listings use the company’s actual product photos.

“We have it automated and we have a clear message to all our distributors – if you find a link to a fake please send it and that email gets forwarded to Red Points,” said Boinnard. If there’s a question of legitimacy, the company does have to manually look through flagged products to make the final judgment, something that costs time and money. “It’s a whac-a-mole kind of business,” he said. 

Ethan Wolff-Mann

Senior Writer

Yahoo FinanceAugust 29, 2018

Melania Supports Her Husband in a GUCCI 'Pussy Bow' Blouse

We did it! We made it through the second debate!  ...but there was one important topic not talked about-in tonight's debates, Fashion!!

Melania, Donold Trumps wife, made it very clear that she was standing by her man at Sunday night's presidential debate as he took on Hilary Clinton in the second showdown of the election season.  This coming just two days after video emerged in which Donald could be heard making lewd comments about women.

'And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything,' Donald can be heard saying on the tape as he speaks with former Access Hollywood host and current Today anchor Billy Bush. 'Grab them by the p****.' 

Melania did not however speak to the press or comment about the debate on social media but instead made a larger statement in what she wore to the debate.

Choosing an interesting outfit for Sunday night's debate, opting to wear an $1,100 silk crepe de chine Gucci blouse with a 'pussy bow.'  Girl can rock a pink 'pussy' blouse by Gucci.   It has not been confirmed wether Melania's outlfit was on purpose but we can say it has gotten a lot of attention! What do you think Comment below!